José Serebrier is such a good conductor that anything that’s less than very good comes as something of a shock—but his ongoing Dvorák cycle has been distinctly underwhelming. The performance of the Seventh symphony has two decent opening movements, and two pretty dull concluding ones. The problem in the scherzo is simply a lack of rhythmic edge, while the finale is simply too heavy. This becomes especially noticeable in the coda, where Serebrier suddenly spurts forward, thereby advertising just how uninvolved he’s been up to that point. The concluding chorale adds horns to the melodic line, a common enough emendation, but one that sounds almost vulgar in this context. Part of the problem concerns the sonics: muddy in the bass, with unfocused timpani and lower strings. It’s hard to say if the impression of the music growing slacker as the volume increases is an aural illusion, or reflects what’s really happening, but in the end it doesn’t matter.
The couplings confirm the general parameters just outlined. In Nature’s Realm is a lovely work, but it needs to be heard in its context, between Othello and Carnival. This isn’t a bad performance, but the Scherzo capriccioso is as stodgy and stiff as your great great grandmother’s butler (assuming she had one–you get the picture). The lack of fire in such a high-spirited work, especially coming from this conductor, is startling. The program opens with a single Slavonic Dance, Op. 46 No. 8, for no good reason, and like everything else on this program, the performance is in no way exciting or distinctive. Disappointing.
